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# 36 / 40 – November 2007

Larry & Listening.                                            
I was talking with my dear and best of friends Larry a few days ago on our drive home from the stained glass class we religiously attend.

Earlier that evening, a man had sauntered up to our table under the pretense of asking Larry a question about the Bible. But instead of ever asking a question, the man blathered his homespun, uneducated opinions about the origins of certain Biblical ordinances.

“Larry,” I asked, “Why didn’t you interrupt that man and set the record straight?”

My dear friend answered, “I already know what I would have said-I wouldn’t have learned anything from that. That man obviously wanted to talk, so I listened.”

Oh, how I love Larry.

With love,



Rabbi Brian

A web version of this article is available here.
This article was also posted at Street Prophets where it received a few comments.

Ask R.Abbi – This Month’s Question

Dear R.Abbi,

I did something terrible. I kept a secret from someone for so long, and
I lied to cover it up, and yesterday guilt over came me and I told my
secret and now I think I lost one of the most important people in my
life. And I don’t know what to do. And I don’t know if they’ll ever
forgive me and I don’t know how I can live if they can’t.

What do I do?

This is taking every ounce of energy out of me, I feel trapped inside
of myself. It’s hard for me to function. I’m scared, too, because of
threats, because of harsh decisions, because of not knowing. It’s not
like I’ve committed an unforgivable sin, and I believe in karma, but
I’m not sure if what I did was nearly as bad as what I’m getting for
it.

Help me!

-Guilty

Dear Guilty,

The steps to forgiveness are acknowledging the wrong you have done,
making an honest amends. You can’t control if your . . .

With love,

R.Abbi.

If you have a question that you would like R.Abbi to answer, please e-mail: R.Abbi@rotb.org

Read the Ask R.Abbi blog at askrabbi.blogspot.com!

The 77% Weekly


The 77% Weekly: The Religion-Outside-The-Box Newsletter
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